Will Ultracapacitors Save Start-Stop Systems From Consumer Wrath?

By John Voelcker 2,022 views Sep 24, 2014 Follow John Add to circle Reddit This! Share on Facebook Share on Twitter 2014 Mazda 6 Sport Enlarge Photo Start-stop systems, which switch off a car's engine while it's stopped to boost fuel efficiency, are now entering the U.S. market in serious numbers. Many European makers, including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and MINI, are fitting them as standard on 2015 models, and there are more to come: By 2022, some forecasts expect start-stop to be included on more than half of U.S. vehicles. ALSO SEE: Ford To Have Start-Stop On 70 Percent Of Vehicles By 2017 But car buyers often dislike the feature, which is not only unfamiliar but can also send vibrations through the car when the engine restarts. Ford Auto Start-Stop fact sheet Enlarge Photo Worse, some early data appears to show that the beefier lead-acid starter batteries that enable the sy...